Fans can lift us again says Dons skipper
Captain Alan Bennett has called on Wimbledon’s passionate away support to lift the players again at Dagenham & Redbridge.
Dons supporters packed into the Traditional Buliders Stand at Dagenham last season with 873 fans watching the 1-0 win and Bennett, who had only joined Wimbledon three weeks earlier, is hoping for similar backing at the same venue tomorrow.
“One of my abiding memories from last season was walking out at Dagenham last season and hearing a massive roar from behind the goal,” recalled Bennett. “To be honest it gave me a bit of a fright because I did not expect it. Hopefully, that will be the same again on Wednesday.
“I would love to hear it again with everyone filling that end and turning it into ‘the Womble Stand’. That would be incredible. Hopefully, if we can put in a similar performance to what we produced against Plymouth and have that excellent support, then we can do well at Dagenham.”
to hear what Bennett had to say about Wimbledon’s fans and about his current fitness after returning from injury. Highlights from Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Plymouth Argyle are also available on our You Tube channel.Dons You TubeClick on
Both Wimbledon and Dagenham currently occupy improve mid-table positions in League 2, a stark improvement on 2012/13 when the two clubs survived on the final day of last season.
Wayne Burnett’s side have lost three of their last four matches, but they did draw 1-1 at league leaders Chesterfield on Sunday. That was also the scoreline when Daggers visited Wimbledon earlier this season and Dons manager Neal Ardley is fully aware of the threat that they will pose on New Year’s Day.
“They have a lot of pace and movement in their team,” said Neal. “They have players with a bit of trickery who are good in one-on-one situations. We have to play with the energy and attacking threat that we showed against Plymouth. We also have to be mindful though that we don’t go 2-0 down and end up chasing the game. There is a fine balance between those two aspects, but we’ll take a lot of positives into it from our performance against Plymouth.”
Zavon Hines is suspended for Dagenham tomorrow, but George Francomb is available to play for Wimbledon after a successful appeal against his sending off in the match against Southend United. Barry Fuller (knee) is doubtful for the Dons and though Harry Pell is nearing a return, tomorrow’s match may come too soon.
.Daggers reportTo read our report on the official website from last season’s win at Dagenham when Kevin Sainte-Luce struck a late winner, click on